


|figment of the world|

by Introverts_United (orphan_account)



Series: |off of the beaten path| [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene, No happy ending here, Side Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 05:23:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5193800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Introverts_United
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Opening my eyes and gazing at a mirror before me,<br/>Something drips down from my eyes, that makes it hard for me to see.<br/>'Ah, so these are tears,' I say and realise that these tears I shed<br/>Come from deep within my heart, memento moris dyed in red."</p><p>Fugaku and Mikoto were never meant to happen, so of course their tale was cut short. After all, such a love story could only end in one way - in tears, in bloodshed, in tragedy.</p><p>[oneshot, |off the beaten path| 'verse]</p>
            </blockquote>





	|figment of the world|

_Itachi stiffened, and then - "goodbye, mother" - he was gone, leaving Mikoto with her husband._

_"Even you, Mikoto?"_

_His voice was gentle, like it had been when they were younger, and tears sprung into Mikoto's eyes. "This had to be done, for the good of our family, Fugaku. For our sons."_

_Fugaku sighed, and his eyes were closed when she turned to face him. "When I said that I wanted to marry you," he began, "and not a girl from within the clan, there was outrage. 'That outsider will be the death of our clan,' they had told me. I insisted that you would be the best thing to ever happen to the Uchiha, but maybe I was just young and stupidly in love." His eyes opened slowly, and met hers. Mikoto tensed, but his Sharingan did not activate, and he made no attempt to cast genjutsu over her. "Tell me, Mikoto. Who was right about you? The elders, or me?"_

_She smiled sadly, and readied her blade. "Neither."_

_-_ |into the wilds| Chapter One

 

Fugaku breathed deeply at the sight of his wife raising her sword against him. There was a pain in his chest that was difficult to think around, and it wasn't merely the physical pain from the wound Itachi had dealt him when he had been startled by Sasuke's arrival on the scene earlier. No, this pain was emotional, spiritual, a wound splitting open from deep within his soul as the battleline between him and the woman he loved was drawn in blood.

He remembered having that sword forged for her, back when he was eighteen years old and full of love for the woman that would one day become his wife. When he'd handed it to her and asked her to marry him, she'd simply blinked.

 _"Do all of your clan propose with blades?"_ She'd asked, while Fugaku blushed.

 _"Well, no,"_ he'd stammered out nervously, blushing. _"But, um, you never really wear jewellery, and you like kenjutsu, so..._ _"_ He'd trailed off, mortified as her friends and old teammates (the team three of their generation, well known for being Konoha's first all kunoichi team) Uzumaki Kushina (who's hair was as red as Fugaku's face) and Yamaha Hikari (only a second generation nin with no clan to speak of, but skilled nonetheless) cackled from their position behind Mikoto, more than likely at his expense.

 _"Hmm,"_ Mikoto had hummed thoughtfully, ignoring both her friends behind her and Fugaku before her. _"I'll keep the sword,"_ she'd addressed him finally. _"But I refuse to answer your question at all until I get a ring."_

And then, without giving him so much as a chance to respond, she'd whirled around and stalked off, holding the sword he'd given her in her hand.

His mother had given him hell for his stupidity, but he'd ignored her. He'd hunted down a ring worthy of Mikoto, finally gotten that yes after two years of asking, and on their wedding night, had traced his chakra into the steel of her blade as she watched with wide eyes.

運命の赤い糸 had glinted in faint silver along the blade when he was done, joined by the characters for their names.

 _"Unmei no akai ito_ _,"_ Mikoto had breathed as he had placed the blade, gently, into her arms as he prepared for the next step.

 _"Yes,_ _"_ he had answered her with a smile at the time, marvelling over how beautiful she was in her wedding finery, raising the hand that held a red, silken string up to the hilt of the blade, to wrap around it as a grip. _"May our hearts entwine as one, Mikoto."_

Those words echoed in his head now, as the blade in Mikoto's hands, the blade she pointed at him, was the very same blade. The red silk on the hilt had faded from bright vermillion to a muddied blood-scarlet, but the edged blade still shone as bright as ever, and the angle of it to moonlight revealed the characters his chakra had so long ago pressed and carved into it with love.

Mikoto's eyes, always so dark and warm, were bright with tears. It was clear she didn't truly want to do this.

"A purge, then," Fugaku sighed. His wife trembled, tip of the blade jerking almost imperceptibly. His chest tightened, and he ached to draw her into his embrace, brush back her hair and wipe away her tears, whisper to her that everything was going to be okay.

She bowed her head, and strands of hair covered her face in darkness. "What were you thinking, Fugaku?" Her voice was pure misery. "One clan against an entire Hidden Village - you had to have known it wouldn't go well."

Fugaku didn't even attempt to explain all the reasoning behind the clan's move for a coup. As much as he loved his wife, she wasn't a born Uchiha, couldn't fully understand what it was that meant - _no-one_ could fully understand what it meant  to be a dragon-child if they weren't one themselves. Instead, he simply said: "It was all for the clan, Mikoto. The clan, _including_ you and our sons." He smiled sadly. "But I suppose it doesn't matter now."

Mikoto's breathing hitched, and then evened out. She raised her head, straightened her back, and now her face was fixed, like glass mixed with steel. "I'm ready," she spoke lowly. "I'll give you the honour of the warrior's death you deserve." Her love for him soaked every word she spoke, and Fugaku knew, then, that he couldn't allow her to wound herself like this.

The Uchiha clan had long known the importance of sacrificing bonds and love, of killing your most important person with your own hands and blade, all for the sake of power. But Mikoto would gain nothing from this, nothing but a lifetime of regret and guilt.

And besides, Fugaku couldn't stand to see that blade she held, a physical representation of the love they shared, stained with his blood. Couldn't allow his wife to suffer that fate.

One seal, two seals, three seals.

Mikoto's eyes widened at the sight of a jutsu she didn't know.

 _"Katon,_ " Fugaku breathed out, and held it there, ready to go off at any second.

Mikoto was tense and wary, but pale too, as if worried for Fugaku. "Look after our boys, won't you?" he asked.

And then, he _let go._

_"Ōkina Yakedo Jutsu!"_

Flames erupted around Fugaku, curling white hot around him.

The Great Burning Jutsu, one of the Uchiha clans greatest secrets - a suicide jutsu. It was an incredibly powerful attack, but at the cost of the life of the user.

Mikoto's eyes were wide. _"_ What - _Fugaku -_ "

"I love you, Mikoto," he spoke, even though the heat in the air was warping his sight and grating his throat. "I love our sons too - make sure they know it."

The last thing Fugaku saw was his wife's beautiful face, stained with tears and lit by fire.

It may have been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

|x|

_"Katon!"_

_Mikoto breathed fire, spewed flame, was the blazing inferno incarnate as she choked down tears and finished the work her husband had started._

_Fire was the purest death after all, and a fitting farewell for the Uchiha._

_After all, for all their faults, they had been a family to Mikoto for years, and they deserved such a noble end._

 

 

_[|x|]_

 

("Thank you is what I'd say if you were here with me,  
I never got the chance for an apology.  
Despite all that I've done please do not forget me,  
Could you grant my last wish, please hold me close my dear.")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> *weeping*
> 
> Have any of you heard 'Figment of This World'? It's a song based off Mary, from Ib. It contains spoilers, so play the game first!
> 
> We love Fugaku and Mikoto, if it isn't obvious. That beautiful line in the summary inspired us so much, so we had to write this side story.
> 
> Chapter three of |into the wilds| is still in the works, and should be updated soon, so keep an eye out!


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